The USA’s 4x100m team of Allyson Felix, English Gardner, Morolake Akinosun and Tianna Bartoletta enjoy a low-key celebration after qualifying for Friday’s final.
Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

A bizarre episode in the women’s 4x100m heats left Allyson Felix and the rest of the strongly favoured USA team out of the final at lunchtime and back in by the evening, having run a solo lap against the clock. During the team’s first attempt on Thursday morning, Felix was obstructed by a Brazilian rival on the second handover and fumbled her baton exchange to English Gardner.

Knowing they had to record a time in order to register a protest, a quick‑thinking Felix ordered the distraught Gardner to pick up the baton and the quartet trailed round the track to finish the race.

“I got bumped,” Felix said afterwards. “It just completely threw me off balance. I tried to pull it together to get it to English. Maybe if I had one more step I could’ve, but I was falling as I was going to her.”

The appeal was upheld and the Americans were given a target of beating 42.70sec to qualify for the final in place of China, who were the slowest of the original finalists, in an early-evening solo lap in the same lane. They beat their target easily, recording the second fastest time in the world this year of 41.77 to bump the aggrieved Chinese out of the eight qualifying slots for the final.

“Honestly I feel like it was just like a glorified practice. We just had fun out there. We were laughing and joking going in and staying light and that was the whole point,” Felix said.

“It was different. It was really weird but when we walked out and people were cheering for us it uplifted us and encouraged us and we were really grateful. I am probably the last person who would want to be involved in anything like this.”

The pain for the Chinese was doubled by the fact their time was equal to Canada’s on hundredths of seconds but slightly slower over three decimal places.

Minutes before the morning drama their British counterparts had looked very impressive as they eased into Friday’s final. They finished second in their heat behind Jamaica, while a less impressive performance by the Team GB men was enough to sneak them through to their final as one of the fastest losers.

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The British women’s quartet of Asha Philip, Dina Asher-Smith, Daryll Neita and Desiree Henry looked very accomplished as they stopped the clock in a time of 41.93sec behind Jamaica, who ran without Elaine Thompson, the 100m and 200m Olympic champion. Britain’s men looked anything but a well-oiled baton-exchanging machine as they laboured to qualification from lane one. They will be forced to run from the coffin box once again in the final on Saturday, despite hopes they would get the outside lane after finishing seventh of the eight qualifiers in 38.06.

“It would have been 37.7 in a better lane,” said James Ellington, who lined up with Richard Kilty, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Chijindu Ujah. “It’s probably the fastest time ever from lane one, so we weren’t playing it safe. This is the Olympics, so we’ve got to lay it down in the heats and the finals.”

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Adam Gemili will come into the team in the final in place of Aikines-Aryeetey following his tilt at the 200m final on Thursday, while James Dasaolu may also replace Kilty.

Despite a history of baton-related blunders and a very public falling out on live television following the feeble effort at the world championships in Beijing last year, the British men insist relations between them have never been more cordial and are bullish about their chances in the final.

“We’re going to fight and we’re still in contention for a medal, definitely,” Kilty said. “When we’re in that final we’re going to bring it, we’ve never gone slow in a final, we’ve always gone to take it out, with the adrenaline, with the occasion. No matter what, we’re going to be better.”

On the day Morgan Lake was due to find out which university she will be attending next year she had more pressing matters on her mind as she attempted to qualify for the final of the women’s high jump on Saturday night. The 19-year-old from Reading, an alumna of the prestigious Wellington College in Berkshire, cut it fine but looked thrilled after the third‑time clearances at both 1.92m and 1.94m that ushered her through.

“I was nervous [going into the final attempt] because I knew I could do it and I was getting frustrated with myself,” she said after equalling her personal best. “It’s horrible being the third attempt but it’s nice to clear it.” Victory in the final would ensure Lake joins the author George Orwell, the former Formula One world champion James Hunt and no fewer than 15 Victoria Cross winners on her old school’s list of famous past pupils.

Great Britain are unrepresented in the men’s decathlon which, along with the women’s high jump and men’s shot put qualifiers, punctuated the morning’s track proceedings. After eight of the 10 events the 2012 champion, Ashton Eaton, remained on course to defend his title, finishing the morning session of the event, due to conclude later on Thursday with the javelin and 1500m, with a points total of 7,370, followed by France’s Kevin Mayer on 7,246 and Canada’s Damian Warner on 7,102. The American Ryan Crouser threw farthest in the men’s shot put preliminaries, heaving one effort 21.59m, with the final to follow in the evening.